Art & Design

We love Maiden Noir‘s streetwear-meets-menswear style, which can be borderline dressed-up and also extremely cozy, with a deft use of polar fleece. We’re psyched to carry the Seattle brand as part of Heartbreakers II, our Pop-In Shop this month focused on evolving menswear,curated by VP of Creative Projects, Olivia Kim.

So psyched, in fact, that we commissioned an exclusive reversible fleece jacket and fleece hat for the occasion.

Because Maiden Noir is based in Seattle’s International District, just a mile south of Nordstrom HQ, we thought we’d pop in for a visit. After all, how busy could designer Nin Truong and his partner Christa Thomas be? They only run Maiden Noir simultaneously with a coffee shop, a line of bags and Truong’s other job as design director of Stüssy.

As part of our deep dive into the world of Heartbreakers II—our Pop-In Shop focused on evolving menswear curated by Olivia Kim, VP of Creative Projects—we got to know the brands with a quick interview.

For the format we chose a handwritten questionnaire, which should delight fashion graphologists worldwide (we see you).

Just in time for the season when we spend the most time indoors, this month’s Olivia Kim-curated Pop-In Shop proudly welcomes HAY Mini Market, featuring playful home and office wares from the beloved Danish Design company with a cult following.

Consider carving out some of your existence for this video interview, in which Kanye West–style influencer extraordinaire–speaks candidly with Lou Stoppard from SHOWstudio and British GQ for two hours, mainly about fashion and inspiration.

To pick one of many entry points for future argument, Kanye likens himself in the interview to Michelangelo and says clothes are sculptures:

To celebrate our new store in Vancouver, we’ve been catching up with some of our favorite Canadians. One of whom we submitted to a friendly on-camera interrogation.

Cofounder of the closet-obsessed website The Coveteur, creative director, fashion photographer and Torontonian Jake Rosenberg fessed up during a session of our video questionnaire, 5 Ws. Rosenberg shot the other celebrities and personalities we interviewed in anticipation of the Nordstrom Pacific Centre opening. Then we turned the camera on this digital-media maestro.

Ready for a shot of ’90s hip-hop culture–aka one of the key retro influences in today’s menswear? Check the early rap journalism of Dao-Yi Chow, now half of the design team with Maxwell Osborne of the CFDA award-winning brand Public School.

Amid the white walls and clean lines of his office, Ryan Willms, editor-in-chief of the design magazine Inventory, cuts an equally crisp silhouette. His hair hangs in a sharp fringe just below his angular chin. His nose truly is aquiline. His selection of a white shirt and black pants might be austere if he weren’t so relaxed.

To celebrate the opening of our Vancouver store on September 18, we’ve been exploring the city through the eyes of its fashionable residents. Get a glimpse of what British Columbia’s big city looks like to Willms in the interview below.

Your job takes you all over the world. How does Vancouver stack up?

I always enjoy coming back to Vancouver. The air here is amazing. I try to appreciate these days. Being able to run the seawall or go to the mountains is certainly unique to the city. There are some interesting people and things happening in Vancouver, but you have to hunt them out on your own a little more than in bigger cities.

Not that we advise throwing around slang you don’t understand or which is nonnative to you, but it’s cool to know what’s out there. To that end, check out Our Slang, a digital handbook put together by designer Kai Wright which breaks down current terminology from Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, Toronto and the Bay Area.

We came to know Wright through his music as the producer Sango, which we recommend perusing. Check out Our Slang below, which will help you decipher the slang you see above–language you may have already encountered through that one Drake and Jhené Aiko song.